Birds flew overhead as Lucy sat on a park bench. It had been a couple weeks since she had gotten to this world, and Caan was still gone. Soon she'd have to start thinking of a way to get back without him. A giggle surprised her, and she turned to see a couple walking toward her. They were probably looking for a bench. Lucy got up and walked toward the lake as she thought about what she needed to do next.

The watch had alerted her to the breach to this world, but it hadn't made a sound since. Even if it had, Lucy wasn't sure if she'd go. The return of The Monk had made Lucy wonder about Caan's insistence on going to a new world. Had he really been leading her towards their world or away from The Rani's manipulations? If so, then shouldn't she find a different way to get home? Maybe there was a way to get home directly from this world. Central City was nice enough, but thoughts of what Missy was doing kept Lucy awake at night.

Lucy was careful not to get too close to the lake. The reflective surface might be enough for Dark to get in her head again. It had become increasingly difficult to tune him out recently, and Lucy suspected that it had something to do with Caan no longer being there. A wet patch almost tripped Lucy. Stumbling back onto the sidewalk, Lucy nearly collided with someone and fell to the ground.

"Sorry about that. I was thinking about… things," a familiar voice explained awkwardly, and Lucy looked up to see her brother. Her breath caught in her throat as he offered her his hand with a smile. She took his hand hesitantly. As he helped her back onto her feet, Lucy couldn't help staring at him. It was Barry. Barry was alive, but he wasn't her Barry.

"It's no problem," Lucy said quickly and looked away. "I wasn't paying attention either. Thanks."

"Ah, guess we're two of a kind," Barry said cheerfully. "I was supposed to meet a friend here, but… classes are taking longer than expected." Barry chattered on nervously and looked around. "But you probably don't care about that."

"No, it's fine. Want to get a coffee with me? I'm new here, so I'd be happy to talk to a local," Lucy said with a smile. "Find out what's cool in Central City."

Barry's face brightened, and he said excitedly, "Oh, sure! There's a place nearby. Jitters. It's a pretty cool place in my opinion."

"Sounds good. Lead on, good sir," Lucy replied. "My name's Lucy by the way."

"Oh, right. I'm Barry. Nice to meet you," Barry said as he led the way to Jitters.

There was a sizable line in the coffee shop, but it was decently priced. Barry spent the time that they were in the line chatting about the different specials. Lucy felt an odd twinge in her heart. Less of a flutter and more of a pain but it was worth it. Seeing a version of her brother alive and well was worth any pain, and she briefly wondered if her mom and dad were here too. After they placed their orders, they found a booth and waited for their coffee.

"You know a lot about this place," Lucy said and noticed Barry twitch in surprise. "You work here?"

"Ah, no, my friend… the one I was waiting for… she does. Work here, I mean."

"You mean, your girlfriend?" Lucy asked with a fake innocence.

Barry's face went red, and he answered quickly, "No! No, just a friend. We've been friends since we were little, you know. We look out for each other… and stuff."

Lucy hid her smile as Barry left to pick up their orders. When he returned, she asked, "So any events happening here? I haven't seen much of the place."

"So you don't know?" Barry asked excitedly before explaining, "The particle accelerator's going active in a couple weeks. I don't know if you're planning on staying here that long though."

"I might. That sounds interesting enough," Lucy answered, both disappointed and pleasantly surprised. She'd expected him to say something related to the theatre, but she had to admit that the particle accelerator sounded fascinating.

"I'll be going to STAR Labs on the day of. You should come too if you can. I'm going with my friend, but I'm sure that she wouldn't mind you joining us."

"Maybe. But I've heard that three's a crowd," Lucy said teasingly, and Barry's face flushed a bit.

"I'm not very good at hiding it, am I?" Barry mumbled and hid his face with his hand.

"Nope. Not at all."

Barry sighed and said, "You could at least pretend that I'm not so obvious."

"I don't lie, kiddo," Lucy said with a chuckle. She did lie quite often but never to him, and she didn't think that she could.

"Kiddo? You look like you're about the same age as me."

"Yeah? I'm really hundreds of years old. Coffee keeps me young. Oh, and the dying dreams of today's youth," Lucy said and looked to a college student whom was staring at his computer screen in confusion and frustration.

Barry hid a laugh and said, "A little dark."

"It fuels me," Lucy said offhandedly before thinking about Caan. "Have you heard of anything weird going on?"

"Weird? How?"

"I like to check out mysteries and stuff," Lucy replied with a shrug. "No ghosts or killer robots running around?"

Barry laughed and said, "Nope. There is a creepy abandoned building out of town, but I'm pretty sure that it's just old. Not haunted. So… you like mysteries?"

"Sure do," Lucy replied and tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. Even though she doubted that she'd find Caan, she was still hopeful. Barry looked like he wanted to tell her something but stopped abruptly. Lucy turned around to see another familiar face enter the coffee shop. Iris gave Barry and Lucy an unsure smile as she walked over.

"Hey, I'm Iris. You're one of Barry's friends?" Iris asked with a smile.

"She's new here. I was telling her about the particle accelerator," Barry said quickly and looked embarrassed.

Iris rolled her eyes but smiled. "He's really looking forward to that. Are you coming with us?"

"Ah, no actually," Lucy said and grabbed her drink. "It was nice meeting you, but I just realized that I have some errands to finish. Thanks, Barry. See you around."

Lucy waved goodbye and left the coffee shop. A sigh escaped her lips as the door closed behind her. Seeing a different version of her brother was strange enough, but his best friend Iris was here too. Her heart had started beating heavily and was just now calming down. How many people did she know here? Had they been other worlds as well?

Caan had been leading her place to place, so she'd never really had time to hang around. Most of the time she was running away from strange people or creatures. Not an ideal time to look around. The hotel lobby was empty as Lucy walked inside the hotel. She briefly considered extending her stay, but a long-term hotel would be the smarter choice. The elevator made a creak as the doors closed behind her. That made her nervous. Maybe she could fix it before she left, but she doubted that they'd allow someone with no real credentials to fix it.

Her laptop sat on the bedside table. She realized that she should probably get some kind of bag to carry it. While she doubted that someone would steal it, she knew that they definitely could. With a little trepidation she began to look up information on Barry Allen. The headline "Doctor Accused of Killing His Wife" caught her eye, and she clicked the link with some hesitation.

"Nora Allen found dead," the article said, causing Lucy to push the laptop away.

Her head rested on her knees as she tried to process the article. A noise from the closet made her look up, and she realized that Dark was trying to speak to her. All of the mirrors in the room had been put in the closet. Lucy had requested that they be taken out altogether, but the management said that all of the furniture needed to stay in the rooms even though Lucy knew that they just didn't want to have to find a new place for the mirrors.

"I can help you, Lucy," Dark's voice called out sweetly as though sensing her emotional turmoil. "Please just speak to me."

Lucy got up and opened the closet door. He wasn't trying to control her with that horrible white noise right now, and she couldn't help but want to hear what he would say.

"Help me with what?" Lucy asked as coldly as she could. She didn't want him to know her desperation.

Dark gave her a smile and replied, "You're afraid. I saw the golden man. He's a bit like you, isn't he? He was trying to drag you back somewhere. I can help you. To stay in this world. Any world. It's not fair. Why are you the one who needs to suffer? Just let me in, and I can give you anything you want."

"Liar, liar!" a voice called out from behind Lucy in a childish tone, and she turned to see Anti's face on her laptop screen. "He's a liar and a cheat. Don't listen to him."

"Okay," Lucy replied and took the laptop and her backpack out of the room. She checked out of the hotel and slammed the laptop into the dumpster outside. Breaking it into pieces before walking off to find a new place to stay.